Charcoal grill



K. E. STEWART ETAL Oct. 5, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 24, 1964INVENTORfl. WM BY 7 //rd/P/r[ J 1965 M. E. fiTEWART HTML 3,209,743

CHARCOAL GRILL Filed June 24, 1964 3 Shams-Sheet 2 I f I INVENTOPJ K906b 1955 K. E. STEWART ETAL 3,209,743

CHARCOAL GRILL I Filed June 24, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS.

United States Patent 3,209,743 CHARCOAL GRILL Karl E. Stewart andTheodore H. Erwin, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to Reddi Products, Inc.,Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed .i'une 24, 1964, Ser. No.377,709 8 Claims. (Cl. 126-25) The invention relates to an outdoorcooking device commonly referred to as a charcoal grill and moreparticularly the invention is directed to means for igniting charcoal orother combustible material which is used in the grill.

Charcoal is a slow burning material which is somewhat diflicult toignite. In order to ignite a chunk of "charcoal it must be subjected tohigh temperature for a considerable period of time. It has been thepractice to ignite charcoal in one of four principal methods. In thefirst, a base fire of paper and wood is laid and charcoal is placed uponit. The burning of the wood and paper causes the ignition of thecharcoal. This is obviously a bother, for the fire is not only diflicultto lay but, because of the difficulty of getting a draft under it, it isdifiicult to keep it going unless considerable care is exercised in theinitial laying of it.

In a second method, it has been common practice initially to spray thecharcoal with an inflammable fluid and to ignite that fluid. The burningof the fluid subjects the charcoal to flames which ignite the charcoalelements. This is a reasonably satisfactory method of igniting charcoalfrom an operational standpoint, but it can be extremely dangerous unlesscarefully performed. The most common hazard arises from the impatienceof the opera tor who feels that his charcoal is not igniting fast enoughor who failed to apply a suflicient amount of fluid to ignite thecharcoal in the first instance. Many times that person has given thecharcoal an extra squirt only to have the supply container for the fluidexplode in his hands.

A third method of igniting the charcoal is to contact the charcoal for aperiod of time with a metallic element which has been electricallyheated to a red glow. This element is somewhat safer than the use offluid, but it is expensive, it requires a source of electricity, and itmust have a safe place for its storage for it is red hot when it istaken from the ignited coals. It is not impossible for someoneinadvertently to bump against the element and receive a very seriousburn.

There is still a fourth method wherein paper and charcoal are laid in acylindrical can having holes punched in the bottom. The paper is ignitedand burns around the charcoal. This method also has its problems for itis possible to smother the fire before it gets started by packing thepaper too tightly in the can and covering it with too much charcoal.

It has been the objective of the invention to provide apparatusassociated with the charcoal grill which provides a method of ignitingcharcoal with complete safety and with greater convenience and speedthan has been heretofore possible with any of the methods outlinedabove. More particularly, the invention contemplates providing a hole inthe bottom of the charcoal containing bowl, the hole having means forsupporting the charcoal on top of the hole. Hanging from the lowersurface of the bowl below the hole is a receptacle into which newspaperscan be crumpled and ignited to cause -a flame to play directly on thecharcoal supported above the hole. Means are provided to facilitate theplacing of the newspaper in the receptacle and the igniting of thenewspaper. When the newspaper is ignited, the walls of the receptacletend to form a short chimney which encourages the flow of air over thepaper and the charcoal to speed the complete ignition of all of theelements of charcoal.

3,209,743 Patented Get. 5, 1965 It has been found that this devicerequires only one to two sheets of newspaper to ignite any number ofcharcoal briquettes piled above the hole in the bottom of the bowl. Tobring the charcoal to a condition ready for cooking requires from aboutfive to ten minutes depending upon the amount of charcoal ignited.

In the elimination of the use of any inflammable fluid, the apparatusand method of the present invention are obviously far safer than themost widely used method of igniting charcoal. Additionally, there is nopossibility of running out of fluid and the cost of the fluid iseliminated. The cost and hazards of the electrical heat element areeliminated. The bother of laying a wood base fire is eliminated. Thereis no necessity of finding a place to store a dirty can and to put upwith the uncertainties of it as a means for lighting charcoal.

In addition to the simple fact of providing a much superior method ofigniting charcoal in many respects, a number of additional advantagesare derived from the use of the present invention. The grill employingthe present invention admits of a recommended mode of operation designedto prolong the life of the grill and to eliminate much of theinconvenience of maintaining the grill in a clean usable condition.

The recommended use of the grill is to use the grill without any layerof gravel, aluminum foil, or the like. After the cooking is done, thecoals can be permitted to burn out and the ashes raked toward the holein the grill bottom and into the receptacle below for removal.Alternatively, water can be sprinkled on the coals to douse them, theexcess water flowing out of the holes in the bottom of the grill bowland carrying out the dirty ashes. The grill thereafter quickly dries andis clean and ready for its next use. In this way, the life of the grillis prolonged because no moisture is held in contact with the metal bowlby the ashes, gravel or the like. Rather, a clean dry bowl ismaintained. The economy of preserving the unburned portion of the coalsis obvious. The convenience of dousing the coals is made possible byhaving a drain hole through which the water can be drained whilestraining out the charcoal elements.

The invention admits of hot spot cooking, in that a draft of air can bedirected to the area of the hole in the grill bottom so that charcoaldisposed over that hole will be burned more rapidly and consequentlywill be hotter than the charcoal in the remaining area of the bowl. Theinvention contemplates provision of means for closing the draft foruniform heating.

These and other objectives of the invention will become more readilyapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partly broken away illustrating theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view looking down into the fire bowl,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIGS. 4, 5 6, and 7 are diagrammatic views illustrating the manner inwhich the invention is used, and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view partly in cross section illustrating analternative form of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a grill 10 which has been constructed in accordance withthe present invention. As is customary with charcoal grills of thistype, the grill has a bowl 11 which is supported on two rear legs 12having wheels 13 on their lower ends and a forward leg 14 having acaster 15 on its lower end, the bowl being adapted to receive charcoalbriquettes. A grid 17 is rotatably and removably supported above thebowl and is adjustably positionable by means not shown in any one of aplurality of vertical positions above the bowl depending upon the heatof the fire and the particular type of food being prepared. Surroundingapproximately onealf of the bowl is a hood which is secured to the bowlby means of nuts and screws and is adapted to receive a motor poweredspit with which to cook roasts, whole chickens, spareribs and the like.The grid has an access door 18 pivotally mounted at 19 to a main gridrod 20. The door is pivoted upwardly to permit the manipulation of thecharcoal in the bowl.

The bowl has a bottom wall 24 which is substantially rflat in order tosupport charcoal over substantially its entire surface without thecharcoals sliding or rolling toward the center. As viewed in FIG. 1, areceptacle 23 forming a solid fuel combustion chamber is secured to thebottom Wall 24 of the bowl 1d. Immediately above the receptacle andsurrounded by the receptacle are a plurality of holes 25 which form agrate 26 for the support of the charcoal during its ignition and duringcooking. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, these holes areabout three-quarters of an inch in diameter and are spaced from eachother a distance of about three-eighths of an inch and are uniformlyscattered about in a generally circular pattern which is about seveninches in diameter. The holes block the passage of the charcoal whichnormally is of dimensions greater than three-fourths inch. Only a smallportion of the bowl is utilized for charcoal ignition, the area occupiedby the group of holes being less than one-fourth the area of the bottomof the bowl. Spaced apart about eight inches and straddling the grate 26are two downwardly depending L-shaped flanges 27 which are struck fromthe bowl. These flanges provide ways for slidably receiving andsupporting the receptacle 23 as will appear below.

The receptacle has side walls 29 formed from sheet metal which is bentto a frusto conical shape with its edges seamed by rivets or by a screwand nut. A bottom cup 30 is welded to the bottom or smaller diameter endof the receptacle, the cup 30 having an upwardly projecting annularflange 31 which surrounds and is welded to the lower marginal edgeportion of the receptacle. The bottom cup has a plurality of holes 32which form a gridwork enabling the bottom member to support combustiblematerial 33 (FIG. 3) contained in the receptacle but which permits asubstantial amount of air to pass up through the combustible material toprovide the necessary draft in operation of the invention.

Closure means formed by a plate 35 is pivoted to the bottom member by arivet 36 so that it can be swung to a position completely covering thebottom member and closing off the air flowing upwardly through thereceptacle. The plate may be swung from that closing position throughany one of a number of positions to vary the amount of air which ispermitted to flow up through the recptacle so as to permit regulation ofcombustion. Attached to the plate is a knob 37 which facilitates themanipulation of the plate.

The receptacle 23 has at its upper edge an outwardly projectingperipheral flange 40 which is adapted slidably to engage the downwardlydepending L-shaped flanges 27 at the bottom of the bowl to support thereceptacle on the bottom surface of the bowl with the walls of thereceptacle depending in a downward direction and with the wallssurrounding the grate 26 in the bowl. The downwardly depending flanges27 are, as can best be seen in FIG. 2, elongated so that the receptaclecan be positioned all the way under the bowl in which all of the smallholes 25 of the grate 26 are in the confines of the receptacle or in aposition in which the receptacle projects outwardly from the bowl (asseen in FIG. 4) so that a substantial portion of its open top isaccessible. This ability of the bowl to project outwardly is valuablefrom the standpoint of lighting the solid fuel combustible material,such as newspaper, in the receptacle. To facilitate the manipulation ofthe receptacle wit-h respect to the bowl, a 1at- 5 erally projectingU-shaped handle 41 is fastened by means of screws and nuts 42 to theside of the receptacle.

The operation of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 7. In thefirst step, charcoal 43 is piled up on the grate 26 over the holes 25 inthe bottom of the bowl. Almost any amount of charcoal can be piled overthe holes and it will be satisfactorily ignited.

The receptacle is then grasped by the handle and removed from .the bowland a wadding of one to two sheets of newspaper 33 is inserted in it.The receptacle is then preferably slid halfway onto the ways 27 andsupported there momentarily during the lighting of the newspaper asshown in FIG. 4. A match is applied to the newspaper .and as soon as itcan be determined that the newspaper it lit, the receptacle is slidfully into its position under the bowl so that it completely surroundsthe openings.

'In the next step of the invention, which is illustrated in FIG. 3, thenewspaper burns and its flame plays directly against the piled charcoal.The charcoal prevents the flame from burning up against the hood and,therefore, there is no need to remove the hood during the igniting ofthe charcoal. Further, the elimination of the roaring flame above thecharcoal eliminates another of the safety hazards attending the use ofthe charcoal grill.

After a short time, for example about two or three minutes, the paperburns out but by then many of the coals, at least in the lower level,have been ignited and are burning thereby causing a flame to burnupwardly into the second and third layers of the coals. The heat has, ofcourse, created a draft through the chimney-like receptacle which causesthe coals which were first ignited to burn brightly and to cause theremaining coals above them to catch fire. In a very short time, forexample another five minutes, practically all of the coals are ignitedand glowing red and the fire is ready for use. By opening the accessdoor 18 of the grid, a charcoal rake can be used to move the coals inthe desired pattern for the cooking, as shown in FIG. 5.

It may be desirable at this point to swing the plate 35 to a completelyclosed position to eliminate the draft through the receptacle. When thedraft plate is closed, all of the coals in the bowl burn normally.However, it may be desirable to have a hot spot on the grill in whichsome foods are cooked more quickly than others. In this event, the draftcan be left opn and a plurality of coals positioned above it, thesecoals being kept much hotter than the others by the draft of air whichcontinually flows upwardly through the receptacle and through the holesin the bottom of the bowl.

In some cooking operations which go very slowly, it may be desirablefrom time to time to re-ignite additional coals. In this event, all thatis required is to open the trap section in the grid and insert a fewadditional coals on top of the coals in the bottom of the grid andignite those coals through the use of the newspaper in the receptacle asdescribed above. Thus, there can be a continuous replenishment of thefire in the grill without having to put cold coal-s against the hotcoals or without havmg to use any artificial means for the starting ofadditional coals.

After the cooking has been completed, the coals can be permitted to dieout in the usual manner. After the coals have died out, the ashes can becollected and removed, merely by raking them over the holes in thebottom of the bowl until they drop into the receptacle, as illustratedin FIG. 6. Of course, during this operation, the draft plate in thereceptacle has been closed so that the ashes will not pass through thereceptacle, but will be retained therein. After the ashes have beencompletely raked into the receptacle, the receptacle is removed and theashes are dumped into an ash can or the like.

An alternative method of handling the coals following the cookingoperation is illustrated in FIG. 7. There the hot coals are sprayed withwater until they are doused. The water flows out of the holes in thebottom of the bowl, the bowl being tilted toward the holes to assure theflowing through the holes. This operation assures the cleaning out ofthe bowl after completing the cooking operation and preserves some ofthe partially spent charcoal. Additionally, it provides an assurancethat there will not be a substantial amount of material collecting inthe bowl which can absorb moisture and contribute to the rusting andshort life of the bowl.

An alternative form of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. There,the receptacle may be fixed to the grill bowl or may be removed. If thereceptacle is fixed, then the bottom of it may be completely open so asto provide a hole through which paper is inserted into the receptacle.Alternatively, and as illustrated in FIG. 8, the grill bowl may have asingle large hole 49 and a wire grid 50 may be removably positioned inthe bottom of the bowl overlying the hole 49 to form the grate.

The bottom of the receptacle has a plurality of bayonet slots 51 adaptedto receive pins 52 which project inwardly from a dish shaped tray 53. Ahandle 54 projects laterally from the tray and is fixed to it to permitthe tray to be handled conveniently. The tray has a vertical wall 55 towhich the pins are attached. A portion of that wall may be broken awayin order to permit the use of a draft regulator plate of the typedescribed above which must be pivoted to the side of the receptacle.

In the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 8, the tray is adapted toreceive any ashes and the like which drop through the holes in thebottom of the receptacle and prevent them from dirtying a patio or thelike on which the grill is used. Additionally, when cleaning out thegrill, ashes may be raked into the receptacle and onto the tray and thetray 53 can be removed without requiring the removal of the receptacle.

We claim:

1. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having at least one hole in said bottom Wall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle mounted onsaid bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extending downwardlyfrom said hole to form a chimney,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

2.. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having a grate formed by a plurality of holes grouped togetherin said bottom wall for supporting charcoal for ignition,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle mounted onsaid bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extending downwardlyfrom said grate to form a chimney,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

3. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having at least one hole in said bottom wall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle removablymounted on said bottom Wall and having walls surrounding and extendingdownwardly from said hole to form a chimney, said receptacle having anoutwardly projecting flange,

the bottom wall of said bowl presenting flange means adjacent said holefor receiving said receptacle flange to removably suspend saidreceptacle below said hole,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

4. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having at least one hole in said bottom wall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle removablymounted on said bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extendingdownwardly from said hole to form a chimney, the upper edge of saidwalls having an outwardly projecting flange,

a pair of laterally spaced ways projecting from the undersurface of saidbottom wall and slidably receiving the flange of said receptacle,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

5. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having means forming a group of approximately three-fourthsinch diameter holes in said bottom wall and spaced apart by a network ofmetal to form a support for charcoal to be ignited,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle mounted onsaid bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extending downwardlyfrom said holes to form a chimney,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

6. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having means forming a group of holes in said bottom wall of adimension to block passage of charcoal whose dimensions are greater thanapproximately three-fourths of an inch, said holes being groupedtogether in an area which is less than onefourth the area of said bottomwall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle mounted onsaid bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extending downwardlyfrom said holes to form a chimney,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

closure means for selectively closing or opening the inlet in the lowerend portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

7. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially fiat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having at least one hole in said bottom wall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle mounted onsaid bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extending downwardlyfrom said hole to form a chimney,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

a plate pivotally mounted on the lower end portion of said receptacleadjacent said inlet for selectively closing or opening said inlet,whereby combustion therein may be regulated at will.

8. A charcoal grill comprising,

a bowl having a substantially flat bottom wall for supporting hotcharcoal,

a grid mounted above said bowl for supporting food to be cooked,

said bowl having a grate constituted by a group of approximatelythree-fourths inch holes in said bottom Wall and occupying an area lessthan one-fourth the area of said bottom wall,

a solid fuel combustion chamber constituted by a receptacle removablymounted on said bottom wall and having walls surrounding and extendingdownwardly from said grate to form a chimney, said receptacle having anoutwardly projecting flange,

the bottom wall of said bowl presenting flange means adjacent said gratefor receiving said receptacle flange to removably suspend saidreceptacle below said grate,

the lower portion of the receptacle constituting a fuel support,

said receptacle having an air inlet in the lower end portion thereof,

a plate pivotally mounted on the lower end portion of said receptacleadjacent said inlet for selectively closing or opening the inlet in thelower end portion of said receptacle, whereby combustion therein may beregulated at will.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,154,165 4/39Huntington 12625 2,484,239 10/49 Moon et al 126-25 3,018,771 1/62 Curtisl2625 3,126,881 3/64 Blotsky 12625 3,172,402 3/ 65 Valiela 12625FREDERICK L. MATTESON, .TR., Primary Examiner.

1. A CHARCOAL GRILL COMPRISING, A BOWL HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLATBOTTOM WALL FOR SUPPORTING HOT CHARCOAL, A GRID MOUNTED ABOVE SAID BOWLFOR SUPPORTING FOOD TO BE COOKED, SAID BOWL HAVING AT LEAST ONE HOLE INSAID BOTTOM WALL, A SOLID FUEL COMBUSTION CHAMBER CONSTITUTED BY ARECEPTACLE MOUNTED ON SAID BOTTOM WALL AND HAVING WALLS SURROUNDING ANDEXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID HOLE TO FORM A CHIMNEY, THE LOWER PORTIONOF THE RECEPTACLE CONSTITUTING A FUEL SUPPORT, SAID RECEPTACLE HAVING ANAIR INLET IN THE LOWER END PORTION THEREOF, CLOSURE MEANS FORSELECTIVELY CLOSING OR OPENING THE INLET IN THE LOWER END PORTION OFSAID RECEPTACLE, WHEREBY COMBUSTION THEREIN MAY BE REGULATED AT WILL.